The Four Seasons: Later Days Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. When bassist/singer Nick Massi quit the Four Seasons after the hit song "Let's Hang On!", he was replaced by the group's arranger, who had once played bass in the Four Lovers. Who was he?

Answer: Charles Calello

Charles Calello replaced Nick Massi in the Four Lovers when Massi quit back in 1958, only to leave when Massi decided he wanted to come back. Calello then became a full-time arranger, and he was always part of the Four Seasons story as the session arranger. He first came to the center of the Four Seasons sound when he significantly re-arranged Bob Gaudio's song "Dawn (Go Away)", which he referred to in an interview as the "first Calello track" on which he "controlled the musical taste of the record." But Calello's rise within the group meant that the contributions of both Massi and Tommy DeVito became less and less, as both were reduced to backing singers. After "Let's Hang On!", Massi, who thought of himself as the vocal arranger, decided to leave again.

Calello only stayed in the group for a few months in 1965, and the only hit single featuring him as a member was "Working My Way Back to You". He was replaced by Joe Long, who remained in the group into the 1970s.

2. The Four Seasons called themselves "The Wonder Who?" for a single of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right". The single was released in a connect-the-dots picture sleeve that claimed to reveal the "real" identity of The Wonder Who? when completed. What did the connect-the-dots puzzle say when completed?

Answer: "We are your favorites"

After the Four Seasons had spent hours trying to find a different way to perform the song that would be different from the Peter, Paul & Mary hit, a frustrated Frankie Valli sang a version entirely in falsetto, with various vocal trills added, as a joke. To his surprise, the Philips Records representative at the session loved it. The group was worried how such an "irreverent" version of a Bob Dylan song would affect their image when even the Beatles were reverent toward Dylan, and so they released the song as being performed by "the Wonder Who?" However, although the "We are your favorites" message revealed nothing, the fact that the song was on Philips Records, produced by Bob Crewe and arranged by Charles Calello, with an instrumental B-side written by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, effectively gave the artist's identity away.

After it reached the Billboard Top Twenty, it ended up on the Four Seasons' next album.

3. In addition to its success as the Four Seasons and the Wonder Who?, the band also charted records as Frankie Valli "solo" singles. Which song, written by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, was a failure as the first Frankie Valli single in 1965, but then reached number one in the U.K. in a cover version by the Walker Brothers a year later?

Answer: The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)

Although Valli's version never got out of the "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" charts on Billboard, the Walker Brothers remade it using an identical arrangement, but Scott Engel's lead vocal mimicked Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers. Many radio listeners actually thought that it was the new Righteous Brothers single (illustrating the similarity between Charles Calello's arrangements for the Four Seasons and Jack Nitzsche's arrangements for Phil Spector), and the cover version became a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

4. Bob Gaudio finally wrote another Four Seasons hit single with 1967's "Beggin'". His lyricist was session backing vocalist Peggy Farina (aka Peggy Santiglia), who was a member of The Angels when they had a Billboard number one hit with what 1963 girl-group classic?

Answer: My Boyfriend's Back

"My Boyfriend's Back" was originally recorded by the Angels as a demo for the Shirelles, with Peggy singing lead. However, producer Gerry Granahan convinced Smash Records (a sister label to Philips) to release it "as is" and was rewarded with a massive hit. Afterwards, though, the Angels returned to their primary role as studio backing singers.

Prior to "Beggin"", the Four Seasons had released five Billboard Top-20 singles in a row not written by Gaudio ("Let's Hang On!", "Working My Way Back to You", "Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me)", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Tell It to the Rain") since Gaudio's "Girl Come Running" only reached number 30 in 1965. Although "Beggin'" also reached the Billboard Top 20 (at number 16), Gaudio once again did not write any of the Four Seasons' following three singles ("C'mon Marianne", "Watch the Flowers Grow", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow").

5. Frankie Valli finally had a Billboard Top Ten U.S. hit as a "solo artist" in 1967 with which song?

Answer: Can't Take My Eyes off of You

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons had singles in the Top Ten simultaneously when the Gaudio-Crewe song "Can't Take My Eyes off of You" went to number two in the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1967 (Valli's only Top Ten hit in the 1960s) and "C'mon Marianne" went to number nine.

However, the group did not have another Billboard Top Ten single under any name until 1974, seven years later.

6. After the success of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", the Four Seasons recorded a concept album of their own, "The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette". The first single from this album became the first new Four Seasons single since 1961's "Bermuda" to fail to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. What was it?

Answer: Saturday's Father

"Saturday's Father", written by Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes, is a song about a divorced dad who only sees his children on weekends, which apparently was too sophisticated musically and too downbeat lyrically ("Today is father's day/See them always smiling for what games to play/Fun to have a daddy every Saturday") for the Seasons' mainstream audience. Interestingly, on the other major U.S. chart at the time ("Cash Box"), "Saturday's Father" did significantly better, reaching the 50s, although it was still a disappointment -- considering that the Four Seasons' ten previous singles on Philips had all at least reached the Billboard Top 30.

Gaudio, Holmes and Charles Calello then wrote, arranged and produced Frank Sinatra's concept album "Watertown", which explored this theme of loss even further, in the context of a man whose wife had abandoned him and their children.

7. The Four Seasons' cover for "The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette" album was a parody of a newspaper, including a cartoon of the Beatles bowing before the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that referenced a song from the White Album (aka "The Beatles" double album). Which Beatles song was it?

Answer: Sexy Sadie

The cartoon shows the Beatles bowing before the Maharishi with their fingers crossed behind their backs, and the caption for the cartoon is a line from the song "American Crucifixion and Resurrection": "People worship crosses with fingers crossed." In the cartoon, John Lennon has "Sexy Sadie" written on the back of his jacket -- a clear reference to Lennon's widely-bootlegged original version of the song, entitled "Maharishi", in which Lennon sings that the Mararishi "made a fool of everyone". However, although this reference showed that the Four Seasons were paying attention to the rest of the music world, it failed to gain them any counterculture credibility.

8. After the failure of "The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette", the Four Seasons were released by Philips Records. The group then signed a five-year deal with a record label that was interested in the band as performers, producers and songwriters; however, the group's association with the label came to an end when the label decided to release them after less than three years, with no U.S. hits to their credit. Which label was it?

Answer: Motown

As a favor to producer Bob Crewe, the Four Seasons released "And That Reminds Me (My Heart Reminds Me)" as the debut single release for Crewe Records, which later featured Oliver, who released the single "Jean" and the album "Good Morning Starshine" there.

They then signed a five-year deal with Motown, which had just begun releasing albums by white artists. Motown promised the group that Berry Gordy would produce a single for them and that Bob Gaudio would be able to produce some of the label's stars, such as Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. To the Four Seasons, this was similar to their 1962 signing with the black-owned Vee-Jay label, which had been very successful for them.

However, in almost three years, 1972's "Chameleon" was the only Four Seasons album to be released, and Motown finally gave the group their release in 1974 after yet again rejecting a Frankie Valli solo album and a Four Seasons album.

9. This 1972 Four Seasons tune, written by Bob Gaudio and Al Ruzicka and produced by Gaudio, was not even released as a single in the U.S. but became a Top Ten hit in Britain thanks to the band's appeal to the Northern Soul movement. What was it?

Answer: The Night

"The Night" had appeared on the 1972 Motown album "Chameleon", but Motown scrapped it as a U.S. single after the album flopped. In the UK, though, the Four Seasons had become stars of the Northern Soul movement and were much more popular than they were in the States. Motown released the single there on its Mowest label and then re-issued it during the Four Seasons' comeback in 1975. The song reached number seven in the U.K. charts that year. It would be one of two 1970s Four Seasons songs that went Top Ten in the U.K. (as well as a third going to number eleven) without cracking the Billboard Top 30 in the U.S.

Ruzicka was the band's touring keyboard player, although Gaudio played most of the band's session keyboards, and he wrote or co-wrote three of the songs on the album.

10. After both Frankie Valli's solo album and a second Four Seasons album were rejected in 1974, the Four Seasons Partnership was only able to purchase the rights to one song from the band's label (for $4,000), which it then took to another label. What song was it?

Answer: My Eyes Adored You

"My Eyes Adored You", co-written and produced by Bob Crewe as part of the Four Seasons' planned second album for Motown, quickly became a Billboard number one hit in 1974 on Private Stock, the first U.S. number one hit for the Four Seasons or Valli since "Rag Doll" in 1964.

Although it had been recorded as a Four Seasons track, the single was released under only Frankie Valli's name. Because the band and Valli ended up on different labels after leaving Motown, for the next several years Valli's solo records (such as "Grease", done with the Bee Gees) were recorded as true solo projects, without the Four Seasons participating.

11. After the renewed success of Frankie Valli solo, the Four Seasons Partnership was able to get a new contract with Curb Records (distributed by Warner Brothers) for the Four Seasons in 1975. Bob Gaudio promptly co-wrote and produced a Top Ten single that became the title track of the group's "comeback" album. Which song was it?

Answer: Who Loves You

The "new" Four Seasons band on the "Who Loves You" album consisted of Valli (lead vocals), Gerri Polci (lead vocals, drums), Don Ciccone (lead vocals, bass), Lee Shapiro (keyboards) and John Paiva (guitar). Adding backing vocals to the title song were former Seasons Gaudio and Joe Long, in an effort to recapture the group's 1960s sound and success.

The song reached number three in the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and also went top ten in the U.K.

12. "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)", a 1975 song about a first sexual experience, became the Four Seasons' biggest hit ever. However, the original lyrics for the song described a different event. What event?

Answer: Repeal of "Prohibition" (December 5, 1933)

The lyrics for "December 5, 1933 (Oh, What a Night)" described the celebration of the end of Prohibition in the U.S. On that day, Utah ratified the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive proclamation of repeal of the Volstead Act, making the sale of alcoholic beverages legal again. However, lyricist Judy Parker (who was then Bob Gaudio's girlfriend and later his wife) thought that the song's concept didn't work and re-wrote the lyrics to describe a first sexual experience, also changing the date by 30 years.

By the way, the classic Marilyn Monroe first issue of Playboy really did come out in December 1953, and the "Manhattan Project" to build the atomic bomb in New Mexico really did begin operations on December 2, 1943.

13. The 1976 Four Seasons single "Silver Star" (a number three hit in the U.K., and Top 40 in the U.S.) was the first Four Seasons single that did not feature any lead vocals by Frankie Valli, and Valli quit the Four Seasons shortly thereafter. Why?

Answer: Hearing loss

Valli was suffering from otosclerosis, an abnormal growth of bone in the middle ear, and was rapidly losing his hearing, even with the use of hearing aids. He referred to his performing during this time as "singing from memory", since he could not hear most of the backing music, and so he left the Four Seasons.

However, surgery restored most of his hearing in 1980, and he returned to the group.

14. After leaving the Four Seasons, Bob Gaudio became a star producer. For which of these artists did Gaudio produce a single that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

Answer: Neil Diamond & Barbra Streisand

Although Gaudio has produced numerous hits for all of these artists, especially for Neil Diamond ("Love on the Rocks", "Forever in Blue Jeans", "America", "Hello Again", "September Morn"), his only non-Four Seasons production to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 was "You Don't Send Me Flowers" by Diamond & Barbra Streisand. Gaudio had produced Diamond's original version of the song, which Diamond originally co-wrote with Marilyn & Alan Bergman as an unused 45-second opening theme for a TV show. Streisand then covered it on one of her albums, and a radio DJ put together a "virtual" duet of the two versions. Diamond, Streisand & Gaudio then re-recorded the song as a real duet, and it spent two non-consecutive weeks at number one in the U.S.

15. In 2007, an old Four Seasons song was remixed by the French DJ Pilooski and became a European hit. In 2009, the remix was used as the theme for Adidas' 60th anniversary ad campaign, featuring a "house party" with such celebrities as David Beckham, Katie Perry, Kevin Garnett, Missy Elliott, Young Jeezy and many others in attendance. Meanwhile, the remix was covered in 2007 by the Norwegian hip-hop group Madcon, who had a Top Ten hit across Europe with it. Which song was it?

Answer: Beggin'

The Adidas Originals "House Party" ad comes in two versions -- the "long" (2:30) and the "short" (60 seconds), but it has been airing primarily in Europe. In the U.S., its fame is "viral".

Pilooski's real name is C�dric Marszewski. He is part of the Paris-based Dirty Sound System crew and also did remixes of "The Night" and "Who Loves You", which are available on a European album, "Beggin': The Ultimate Collection".

Meanwhile, HBO is using the Madcon cover of "Beggin'" as the theme for its summer movies in 2009.

Source: Author AyatollahK

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ralzzz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Four Seasons were one of the most successful pop groups of the 1960s, and their story is told in the play "Jersey Boys". But how much do you know about the real group and their later recordings? This is the second of two quizzes, starting in 1965.

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